Bengal’s traditional folk theatre — jatra — which still employs tens of thousands of people, is working hard to crawl out of the Covid shadow.
If collections in the previous year were promising, the advance bookings for this year suggest the possibility of a renewed interest, several insiders said. The advance bookings for every year traditionally open on Rath Yatra.
“Advance bookings for 40-odd plays began today. Some more plays are still in the pipeline for this year. The number has reached the pre-Covid level. If the first-day bookings are a sign of things to come, the jatra troupes are looking at a packed schedule,” said Tapan Sarkar, secretary of the Paschim Banga Jatra Academy, a government organisation that supports the medium.
Rup Kumar Ghosh, joint secretary of the Paschim Banga Jatra Sammilani, which represents a large section of those involved in the industry, said the livelihood of “around 50,000 people”, including actors, musicians and technicians, is dependent on jatra.
“The ban on public performances during Covid had crippled the industry. Most of these people, especially in the rural belts, were not equipped for any alternative mode of livelihood. Government grants and assistance from NGOs helped them scrape through the pandemic years,” said Ghosh, a producer himself.
Jatras, often melodramatic and kitschy, are known to be topical. As the protests against the Centre’s citizenship matrix shook the country from late 2019 to early 2020, the fear of homelessness reached the jatrapara in Chitpore as well. “NRC Hatao, Desh Bachao (Repeal NRC, Save the Country)”, was the title of a play.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been the subject of multiple plays.
Chitpore in Kolkata is the biggest jatra hub in the state. There are around 50 troupes in Chitpore. Almost all of them did decent business last year.
On Tuesday, mementos were distributed to last year’s top-grossing plays at a programme in Bagbazar. Aaye Aamti Khabo Pere, a production by Debibandana, a Chitpore-based troupe, recorded 191 shows last year, the highest.
Bengal ministers Aroop Biswas and Indranil Sen were present at the programme. “The state government is mulling to organise a Jatra Utsav at Rabindra Sadan to popularise the form in Kolkata. A proposal is in the works. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will take the decision,” Biswas said.
The Jatra Utsav is usually held in Barasat, North 24-Parganas, every year.